Chapter 84 Rosalie
EIGHTY-FOUR
ROSALIE
Istared out the window at the city lights far below. I’d been staying with Klaus for days now. He was rarely home, so I had the place to myself.
But when he was here, he was everywhere.
We’d grown insanely close. It happened fast, and I wasn’t even sure how to handle it.
What I did know was that it confused me, but I really did like him.
Maybe a little too much. He made me feel seen. Comfortable. Like I truly mattered. He hadn’t fucked me since that night, but we’d made out several times like randy teenagers.
“Here,” he said, coming up behind me and handing me a glass of wine.
I took it and sipped at it, continuing to stare out at the city.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, his voice a low rumble.
“I don’t even know,” I murmured. “How pretty the lights are. How quiet it is here.”
His soft, warm lips met my collarbone, and I angled my neck for him.
His hands moved around my waist before he pulled me back against him, his massive erection poking me in the back.
He took the wine from me and placed it on the small table next to us before his hand returned to my body. He continued to kiss my shoulder and neck, his hands moving to cradle my breasts. I rested my head against him as he slowly worked.
“What do you want to do tonight?” he asked.
“You actually have a night off?”
“I do.” He nipped at my neck again. “Tell me.”
“I want to do what you want to do.” I closed my eyes, relishing in his soft kisses.
He skimmed his lip along the shell of my ear. “What I want to do is push you against this window and fuck you so all of Chicago can see and know you’re mine.”
My heart jumped in my chest at his words.
“I’m yours?”
“Whenever you’re near me, you’re mine.”
It was an acceptable answer. It was far too early in our…whatever this was, to be pushing him for answers. And did I even want them? He was in the same life I’d just left. Maybe even worse since he was with Matteo.
All I knew was I liked how I felt in that moment. He made me forget. I needed to forget.
His hands slipped to the back of my dress, and the zipper came down a moment later. My breath caught as it pooled around my feet, leaving me in my red bra and panties.
He snaked his fingers beneath the string of my thong.
“I love this look,” he growled in my ear. “You’re gorgeous, my sweet girl.”
I shivered against him as he gently pushed my panties down and unsnapped my bra.
I stepped out of the thongs and let my bra fall away. My heart thrummed nervously as he put space between us. I didn’t turn around to look at him. Instead, I listened as his belt jingled and the sound of his clothes hitting the floor sounded out.
The tearing of a condom package let me know he was going to fuck me right there.
“Put your hands on the window,” he husked out.
I did as I was told, my heart getting faster.
He gripped my hip with his hand.
“Part your legs for me, baby.” The way he said baby made me whimper a little.
I breathed out and parted my legs. He pushed forward, so I was bent a bit. And then…
I cried out as he slid inside me. He let out a feral groan as he filled my pussy with his cock.
And then he was moving.
All hips, hands, and dick.
Anywhere he could touch, he did. My breasts. My clit. I moaned loudly as he worked me over, his breathing heavy as he pressed me against the window.
He wrapped his hand gently around my throat and lightly squeezed as he rutted deep inside my body.
“Fuck, your pussy is magic,” he rasped, snapping his hips back before slamming into me.
I cried out, shifting against him as he moved us forward so I was pressed harder against the window.
“I want the fucking world to know who fucks you,” he said fiercely as he continued to hammer away inside me.
He was so dirty and feral when he let go. I loved it. It lit a fire inside me that I didn’t know was possible.
The warmth from my impending release filled me before spilling over. I came with a cry, my body trembling from the intense wave of pleasure. It rolled through me on repeat until I couldn’t even hold myself up anymore.
Klaus let out a soft, dangerous laugh and lifted me like I weighed nothing at all, and let out a groan as he came inside me, his big cock twitching against my walls.
Breathless, he kissed my shoulder. My neck. My cheek. Carefully, he adjusted me in his arms and took me to his couch, where he gently laid me down.
I stared up at him, my lashes fluttering, and my heart still beating fast.
“I’ll be right back,” he murmured, planting a kiss on my temple.
I smiled at him as he dropped a throw blanket over me before closing my eyes to catch my breath. I heard him walk away, so I took that time to focus on what the hell was happening here.
The short answer was I had no idea.
The long one was scary and confusing. I didn’t want to dive too deeply into it because I was afraid of getting attached.
But the truth of the matter was that I was attached.
Was he, though?
It felt so damn fast.
Klaus returned and shifted me easily into his arms as he held me on the couch. He hadn’t dressed, so we were naked with one another still.
I sat on his lap, my head resting against his muscled, tatted chest.
“Tell me what is going on inside that pretty head of yours,” he murmured. “I want to know.”
“Do you?” I asked softly. “Why?”
He breathed out. “You are the most intriguing creature I have ever met. I find myself unable to resist you even though everything tells me I should.”
“I feel that way about you.”
He chuckled. “We might have a problem then, huh, my sweet girl.”
“Has this ever happened to you before? Where you have felt this way?”
“No,” he answered without hesitation.
“You’ve been married before—”
“No,” he said softly, tilting my chin up and brushing his soft lips against mine. “That is my answer. My marriage wasn’t made of love. It was more like duty.”
I swallowed. “Will you tell me about it?”
He studied me for a moment before looking past me.
“I had an arranged marriage. I knew her. She knew me. We were good enough friends, but we didn’t love each other.
It was a duty on my part. She loved another, and the pain of not having him was unbearable for her.
I suppose perhaps she thought I’d be agreeable to sharing my wife, even if we did not love one another.
” He paused for a moment and twirled one of my curls around his finger.
“The Bratva murdered him. He tried to make a name for himself so he could win her away from me. She struggled with the news of his death, so much so that it spiraled her into a depression so deep that I could not bring her out of it. I felt angry and bitter because I had always wanted to be a good husband. She told me I’d never be him.
I knew these words were out of despair and anger, but she said them to me every day we were married.
I kept trying until it became too much. In a way, I regret that weakness because it transformed me into something even more monstrous.
I cannot blame who I became solely on her.
That would be irresponsible of me, but in my anger, I began to grow colder to all. Even my boys.”
He stopped talking and cradled my face, his blue eyes on mine.
“I fucked up, little hummingbird. I ruined her life by agreeing to the marriage. She killed herself after the man she really loved died. His name was Edward Bauer. A decent enough family, but nowhere near the caliber of either of ours.” He ran his knuckles along my jaw.
“She thought it was the only way to get to him and be with him. I came in and found her lying in a pool of her own blood. I picked up the knife. Levin walked in on it. I didn’t want him to know his mother never loved me.
That she hated our life so much that she would die to escape it.
Maybe I should have told the boys. Maybe it would have changed things.
He and Stefan believe I am their mother’s killer when, in fact, it was just life that killed her. A life she didn’t want.”
He stopped speaking, a faraway look in his eyes. So much pain was registered on his face, I didn’t even recognize him as the Klaus I knew.
“I was already a madman. The regret I had at not saving her or trying harder ate at me. I’ve never been good with emotions and feelings.
Everything turned to hate. To anger. My boys…
” his voice trailed off. “They hated me. Levin still does because I still fuck up. I don’t know how to be any other way with him.
Perhaps I fear trying and being rejected, like his mother rejected me.
And Stefan… He’s with his mother now, so it’s a moot point, really. Just another regret.”
He closed his eyes, and my heart broke as a tear snaked down his cheek.
“I was not a good father, nor was I a good husband. I am fearful of the rejection. Of the hatred. I only know my cruelty and how it can build a wall that can protect the heart. Maybe in my way, this is how I try to be a good father by pushing my sons away. So maybe they will grow cold and not hurt as I have. It is not often that I think of ways to explain it. I don’t like how it makes me feel.
I just.. I wish for a different outcome.
A second chance. Levin is all I have left, and he hates me, but perhaps it’s for the best. He is a strong man, and for that, I am proud.
” More tears slipped down his cheeks, and he looked away from me.
I kissed them away as he let out a soft breath and held me tighter.
“If heaven had a face, I’m sure it would be yours,” he whispered. “Sweet Rosalie. You are a rarity. I am honored to share these moments with you. Thank you for that. I-I have never been in love, but I imagine it feels like this.”
“I think you could hate me,” I whispered.
“I could never,” he answered, kissing me again.
I pushed against his chest. “Klaus… I -I have something to tell you.”
He stared back at me. “Will I need pants for this?”
I let out a soft laugh. “Do you want pants?”
“Not when I’m with you. I like feeling your warmth against me.” He trailed his lips along my jaw, making me shiver. “Tell me, sweet girl. I can take it.”
I bit my bottom lip before breathing out. Stefan was alive. Klaus wasn’t the man they all thought he was. I knew that to the depths of my soul. He deserved to know. He deserved his second chance.
“If I tell you, will you promise to take the second chance?”
He crinkled his brows at me. “What is it?”
“Promise me,” I murmured. “You have to cross your heart promise. No takebacks. They aren’t allowed when you promise me.”
He made a cross over his heart with his finger. “Cross my heart. I would keep any promise to you I made.”
I licked my lips. “I-I know something. A-About Stefan.”
He frowned. “What is it?”
“H-He’s not dead.”
He stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “What? I buried him. I know he’s dead—”
I shook my head. “He’s not. He was at my house only months ago. With Levin.”
His hands shook on my waist. “I do not understand. How?”
I shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. Fallon took Bianca. Stefan is the one who came to them. Because of Drake?” I frowned, really hoping I got the story right. I wasn’t privy to a lot of it. “Stefan was off the grid he said. He was working on taking people out. I think.”
Klaus blinked several times before shifting me off his lap. I watched him grab his clothes and begin putting them on.
“Do you know where he is? Stefan?”
I shook my head. “I-I don’t. With his girlfriend? Natalia?”
He let out a growl.
I sat forward. “Klaus?”
He finished buttoning his shirt, his pants already back on.
“I need to go. I-I have… fuck.” He pushed his feet into his shoes before grabbing his jacket and shrugging it on.
I got up, the blanket wrapped around me. “I-I’m sorry—”
He shot me a look that made my stomach twist. He didn’t say a word as he opened the door and left, though.
And that scared me.